The Lady Tied to the Lamp Post

[Part One - His Way Home]

She's got no-one in the world
No, she's got no-one in the world
Hunched in a doorway as the last stragglers go home
Peels off some gaffa to repair the oilskin holes
And the red-haired hippy walking past has only got a cig
Then heads off to the bus stop and gets out of town real quick
"You abandoned me"

And he wonders how they make it so easy
For him to just leave her behind on the streets
But somewhere on his way home he's thinking "music" and "lyrics"
While she's tied to thе lamp post - she's got no-one in the world

And now ... with a bungee ... shе ties herself to the post
Of all the things she's scared of, falling over scares her most
And the rain so persistent and the cold in every joint
She keeps her head up, that's important, that's her dignity
And that's the point

And he wonders how they make it so easy
For him to just leave her behind on the streets
But somewhere on his way home he's thinking "music" and "lyrics"
While she's tied to the lamp post

[Part Two - The Hardest Shoulder]

And out on the ice-dark highway, three miles from the freezing square
A car breaks down on the hard shoulder, but it just can't happen there
Blue lights and breakdown trucks, flashing signs and traffic news
There'll be "trouble" on your way home tonight
(If your home is not your shoes)
Tied up to the lamp post with nothing left to lose

So what shall we call an emergency? we can solve any problems on the road!
We can send in fleets of support vehicles and bring stranded motorists in from the cold
Blue lights and breakdown trucks all available around the clock
But break down, no cash, in a doorway = You'll be sleeping in a box
Tied up to the lamp post, plastic bags for socks
We abandoned her, she don't live nowhere no more

Blue lights and breakdown trucks all available around the clock
But break down, no cash, in a doorway, you're gonna
Sleep in a freaking box!

[Part Three - Origins Movie]

There was a time when she was "valued" - that's what they said on her report
They kept her in perdour to be useful
They smiled at her but didn't give a thought...
To "what she said" so when they moved her sideways
They never noticed she was gone
Then HR crossed out her position - they all assumed that she'd moved on
To "different career choices", but for all we cared
She's tied up to a lamp post, and no-one even knows she's there

We leave a hundred million like her behind every day
And on our teabreaks and on our lunch hours she wiles the time away
Some give her money, some give her cigs, some give her time of day
"Don't want to give her drug money so just to be sure let's just leave her
Tied up to the lamp post, no-one even knows she's there"

And he wonders how they make it so easy
For him to just leave her behind on the streets
But somewhere on his way home he's thinking "music" and "lyrics"
While she's tied to the lamp post - she's got no-one in the world
"You abandoned me"

[Part Four - The City Slumbers]

[Instrumentals/Solos]

[Part Five - The Avatars of Our Accounts]

And out on the outskirts, suburbs twinkle in the night
The deep thrum of The Internet, everywhere, but out of sight
We wave our tear-stained emojis when poverty's on our thread
Then lock the houses, switch off the lights
And thank God for our bed

And out on horizons we don't see
A switch gets flicked, a flag comes up
A spreadsheet puts us on the streets

Living lives as avatars, accounts that bear our names
Are called up from The Aether, show our positions in The Game
And blue lights and breakdown trucks, they only come if you've got "the score"
Without them we'd be sleeping on the floor
And we'll have nothing in The World

[Part Six - Halflifecycle]

[Instrumentals]

[Part Seven - Lovely Sunny Bournemouth]

In lovely sunny Bournemouth, where money loves to play
They'll buy you a one-way ticket to take your problems away
They put iron bars on benches to stop you laying down
And play you "Crazy Frog" all night to stop you hanging round
And we'll have nothing in The World

[Part Eight - His Way Home (Part Two)]

And he wonders how they make it so easy
For him to just leave her behind on the streets
But somewhere on his way home he's thinking "music" and "lyrics"
While she's tied to the lamp post